Smogon Badge FAQ

Badges are bestowed upon users who contribute positively to Smogon in a significant way. Users are badged as a sign of recognition for the type of work they have done for the site. Trophies are given to the winners of Smogon's most prestigious Tournaments. Badges are given out completely at the discretion of the Smogon administration, and imply a recognition of effort, maturity on the forums and in any Smogon chat, and the responsibility all badged users share: improving the site.

Users with at least one badge have their account upgraded from Registered User to Community Member and gain the ability to use slightly larger avatars and attachments, as well as change their custom title. In addition, it also grants some editing access to articles on the site. Badged users are also welcome to participate in internal site discussions. A comprehensive list of badgeholders is available here.

Any users who want to contribute to Smogon are always encouraged to do so, but remember that being badged is a special recognition and a privilege. As such, asking to be badged is never a good idea, and doing so will never hasten the process. Hard work does not go unnoticed, but neither do overzealous senses of entitlement. Most badges have an associated Badge Leader who is responsible for identifying and nominating new candidates.

Here are the different classes of badges and how to get them:

Contribution

User is a Pre-Contributor. Pre-Contributors are most notably badged for their helpfulness in the Contributions & Corrections forum, as they regularly post and edit articles for the site. Users may also earn the Pre-Contributor badge for being extremely positive influences in other parts of the site as a stepping stone to the Community Contributor badge. It can also be given out as a "trial" badge for users who are close to obtaining a badge, but still need a push in the right direction for that particular badge. Pre-Contributor (often referred to as "Ladybug") is considered an easy-to-get and easy-to-lose badge. If another badge is awarded to a user with this badge, the Pre-Contributor badge will be removed.

User is a Contributor. Contributors write and edit articles and competitive analyses for the site. Note that being recognized as a Contributor to Smogon requires a significant amount of quality content submitted to the site, such as guides, articles, and analyses. Visit the Contributions & Corrections forum for more information.

User is a Tiering Contributor. Tiering Contributors have made a concerted effort to contribute to the creation, modification, and facilitation of the policies that shape both the present and future of competitive Pokemon. The badge is granted to those who lead a tier, serve on a tiering council, or have voted in eight suspect tests and display a general interest in Smogon's tiering system. If the Tiering Contributor badge is awarded for serving on a council, it is maintained only with high levels of activity.

User is a Community Contributor. This badge is awarded to those who have contributed to the forums by posting and leading high quality discussion in our discussion forums. In addition, this badge can have other applications for superb work in areas that are not presently recognized by another badge, such as maintenance of on-site hubs and hosting particularly successful tournaments. This is a badge that is maintained only with high levels of activity.

User is a Programmer. Programmers fix reported bugs and contribute to the progression of Smogon's technical projects. Programmers are often involved in the maintenance of Smogon-endorsed mobile applications, damage calculators, etc. Furthermore, the Programmer badge is awarded to those that have contributed long-term efforts to simulators such as Pokemon Showdown.

User is a Researcher. Researchers contribute in-game data and mechanics in order to help Smogon's simulator up to date and as accurate as possible.

User is a Smogon Artist. Artists contribute pieces of their artwork to sections of the site, such as Competitive Discussions, Tournaments, The Flying Press, and Smogon's very own Facebook and Twitter pages. Visit Smeargle's Studio for more information.

User is a Contributor to Smogon Social Media. Smogon Social Media contributors create content for and contribute to Smogon's social media pages on other websites, such as our Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube pages. This is a badge that is both earned and maintained only with high levels of activity and dedication.

User is a CAP Contributor. These users have shown great dedication and participation in the Create-A-Pokémon section on Smogon. This badge is awarded to those who lead the CAP community with competitively-minded discussion.

User is a Live Chat Contributor. These users lead discussion and provide positive chat presences in the official Smogon Discord. This is a badge that is maintained only with high levels of activity.

Staff

User is a Smogon Site Staff Member. Members of the Site Staff are appointed by experience and trust, as they can cache edits to the site. Most users are awarded the Site Staff badge for their helpfulness in Contributions & Corrections or being appointed Smogon's Flying Press staff.

User is a Tournament Director. Tournament Directors manage the official Smogon tournaments such as Smogon Tour, Smogon Premier League, and the Smogon Grand Slam. They also approve and maintain user-hosted tournaments. Users with this badge also moderate the Tournaments forum. Users who have this badge are picked on an as-needed basis. Visit the Tournaments forum for more information.

User is a Moderator on Pokémon Showdown! PS! Moderators are chosen on an as-needed basis for their maturity, server activity, and/or policy involvement.

User is a Leader or Administrator on Pokémon Showdown! These users have proved either their technical or policymaking ability and are promoted on a subjective basis by the PS! administration.

User is a Forum Moderator. These users are very knowledgeable and active in a few subforums of this site and have the ability to moderate those forums.

User is a Community Leader. In addition to having the ability to moderate one or a few subforums of the site, these users are typically leaders of the tier or community project they are involved with, or they have proven themselves exemplary staff members in multiple areas of the site.

User is a Super Moderator. These users are typically leaders of a particular tier or community project. In addition to having moderation powers in every forum, they have access to the Admin Control Panel, which allows them to badge and edit users.

User is an Administrator. In addition to having the same powers as the Super Moderators, these users are responsible for running and making many of the important decisions involving the site.

Helpfulness

User is a Tutor. Tutors help new members become acquainted with the competitive aspect of battling. Tutor badges are awarded after at least four rounds of high-quality tutoring—simply being accepted as a tutor does not earn you a badge. For more information about the tutor & apprentice system, please check the Battling 101 Forum.

User is a Team Rater. Team Raters provide frequent constructive advice to those who post in topics in the Rate My Team forum.

It should be noted that all badges are based on constant activity, except Contributor, Programmer, Researcher, Smogon Media Contributor, CAP Contributor, and Artist. These badges are permanent. Do not think that once you're badged you can just stop contributing, though; that shows poor attitude. Any and all badges can be stripped for having a distasteful attitude towards the community, and badged users can be infracted. Being badged means you should hold yourself to a higher standard of maturity in the forum and on the server, which is why a person would be badged in the first place along with contributions.

If a badged person has made significant contributions to the site and/or forums but stops contributing, he/she can be rewarded with one of the Alumni badges. These greyed out versions of the normal badges show the great appreciation the Smogon staff has for the Alumnus' contributions.